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AI Laws in Fairfax, Virginia
As of 2026-08-12, AI Laws USA tracks 35 AI rules that apply to people and businesses in Fairfax, Virginia: 10+ federal protections, 22 Virginia state-level rules, and 3 local Fairfax/county ordinances. Coverage is strongest on automated decision-making, consumer protection, government use of AI, and data-center siting and energy. 21 of these rules are already in effect. Each entry below links to its official source.
Fairfax local AI rules (and Fairfax County)
3 local AI rules specific to Fairfax, Virginia or Fairfax County.
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In effect Limited protection
Fairfax County VA Public Schools
Fairfax, VA · Effective 2025-09-01 · Fairfax County VA Public Schools — FCPS Forward: AI & The Future of Learning (Interim) (2025-09-01)
Interim guidance while a board-adopted policy is drafted (Oct 2025). Approved tools include Adobe Express, Google Storybook/LM, ChatGPT for Teachers pilot configured not to train OpenAI models; students cannot be compelled to interact with AI.
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In effect Limited protection
FCPS formal generative AI restrictions — elementary ban, secondary authorization required
Fairfax County Public Schools, VA · Effective 2026-08-01 · Fairfax County Public Schools School Board formal policy action on generative AI restrictions (adopted July 16, 2026; effective SY 2026-27)
The Fairfax County School Board voted on July 16, 2026 to adopt formal generative AI restrictions that take effect for the 2026-27 school year. Elementary students are prohibited from using any generative AI tools. Secondary students may only use generative AI if they receive written authorization from a principal, superintendent, or designee for a specific project. Pre-K and kindergarten students are banned from using school-issued tablets and laptops, with exceptions for students whose IEP, 504 plan, or multilingual learner status requires device access. The restrictions supersede the district's prior interim guidance (FCPS Forward: AI & The Future of Learning, September 2025), which had approved certain tools including Adobe Express and a ChatGPT pilot for teachers. Parental opt-out for school-issued devices and a YouTube content firewall were also under consideration.
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In effect Moderate protection
Fairfax County Data Center Zoning Ordinance Amendment
Fairfax County, VA · Effective 2024-09-10 · ZOA (Data Centers, 2024-09-10) (2024-09-10)
Adds use-specific standards for data centers covering noise, building design, and proximity to residential uses; tightens permitted districts.
Virginia-level AI rules most relevant to Fairfax
22 Virginia state rules apply to residents and businesses in Fairfax. Showing the 8 most relevant to Fairfax's local picture; 14 more are on the Virginia jurisdiction page.
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In effect Limited protection
Virginia VCDPA (opt out of profiling, $7,500/violation)
Virginia · Effective 2023-01-01 · Va. Code 59.1-575 to 59.1-585 (esp. 59.1-577, 59.1-580, 59.1-584); HB 2307 / SB 1392 (2021)
Virginia's comprehensive privacy law gives consumers the right to opt out of 'profiling' used to make decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects, such as automated decisions affecting credit, housing, employment, or essential services. Businesses must obtain heightened consent before processing the data of a known child (via federal COPPA) and must conduct documented data protection assessments for higher-risk processing, including certain profiling. The Attorney General enforces the law and may seek up to $7,500 per violation; there is no private right of action.
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In effect Moderate protection
VA PDD Act (2017 — first)
Virginia · Effective 2017-07-01 · Va. Code §§ 46.2-100, 46.2-908.1:1
Virginia was the first U.S. state to legalize sidewalk delivery robots. PDDs may operate on sidewalks and crosswalks (10 mph cap, 50 lb cargo limit), must carry $100,000 liability insurance and a visible operator ID, and localities may further regulate them. Starship Technologies' deployment at George Mason in 2019 traces back to this law.
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In effect Limited protection
VA DOI AI Bulletin
VA · Effective 2024-07-22 · Virginia SCC Bureau of Insurance Administrative Letter 2024-01 (2024-07-22)
The VA Department of Insurance adopted the NAIC Model Bulletin on Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems by Insurers. Insurers licensed in VA must maintain a written AI program with governance, risk-management, testing, third-party-AI oversight, and documentation controls. The bulletin operationalizes existing unfair-trade-practice and unfair-discrimination law as applied to insurers' AI use cases — underwriting, pricing, claims, fraud detection, and marketing.
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Vetoed Unknown
VA HB 2094 (vetoed)
VA · Va. HB 2094 (2025) — vetoed Mar. 24, 2025
Virginia HB 2094 would have imposed Colorado-style duties on developers and deployers of high-risk AI systems with consumer disclosures and impact assessments. Governor Youngkin vetoed it on March 24, 2025 — the first red-state veto of an EU-AI-Act-style framework.
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In effect Limited protection
Virginia IVO AI Safety Study (SB 384/HB 797, 2026)
Virginia · Effective 2026-07-01 · 2026 Va. Acts, SB 384 / HB 797 (JCOTS IVO Study Directive), eff. July 1, 2026
Virginia enacted SB 384 and companion HB 797 on April 13, 2026, directing the Joint Commission on Technology and Science (JCOTS) to study the feasibility of a framework for Independent Verification Organizations (IVOs) — independent bodies that would assess whether AI models and applications meet safety standards designed to prevent personal injury and property damage. This is a study directive only; it does not create any compliance obligations for AI developers or deployers today. If JCOTS recommends a framework, future legislation could require IVO certification before deployment of high-risk AI systems in Virginia.
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In effect Limited protection
Va. Code 19.2-11.14 (humans, not AI, must decide bail/sentencing/parole)
Virginia · Effective 2025-07-01 · Va. Code 19.2-11.14; HB 1642 (2025), Va. Acts c. 637
Virginia requires that key criminal-justice decisions be made by a human being, even when an AI tool produces a recommendation or prediction. The rule covers pretrial detention or release, prosecution, adjudication, sentencing, probation, parole, correctional supervision, and rehabilitation. No such decision may be made without a human decision-maker, and any AI-generated recommendation is subject to any challenge or objection allowed by law.
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In effect Limited protection
Executive Order 51 (2025): First-In-The-Nation Agentic Artif
Virginia · Effective 2025-07-11 · Executive Order 51 (2025): First-In-The-Nation Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) Empowered Statewide Regulatory Review
Governor Youngkin's order launches a pilot using agentic AI to scan the Commonwealth's regulations and guidance documents for redundant or outdated requirements and directs executive-branch agencies to incorporate AI into their periodic regulatory reviews.
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In effect Moderate protection
VA SCC Data Center Rate Case
VA · Effective 2024-11-13 · Va. SCC Case No. PUR-2024-00144
Virginia's State Corporation Commission opened a formal investigation into how data center load growth — driven by AI compute demand — should be allocated across electricity rate classes, to keep residential customers from subsidizing AI data centers. Includes minimum-billing demands and special tariffs.
Federal AI rules that apply in Fairfax, Virginia
These federal protections apply everywhere in the United States, including Fairfax, Virginia. Showing the 10 strongest and most recent.
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In effect Stronger protection
Bartz v. Anthropic
N.D. Cal. · Effective 2025-09-05 · Bartz v. Anthropic PBC, No. 3:24-cv-05417 (N.D. Cal.)
Authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber, and Kirk Wallace Johnson sued Anthropic over its use of pirated-book datasets to train Claude. In June 2025 Judge William Alsup ruled that training on lawfully purchased books was fair use. The piracy claims (LibGen ingestion) proceeded toward settlement; in September 2025 Anthropic agreed to a $1.5 billion class settlement covering ~500,000 works. Judge Alsup granted preliminary approval September 25, 2025 and final approval July 20, 2026. The appeal period runs through August 19, 2026; class members will not receive payments until at least end of 2026.
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In effect Stronger protection
Benavides v. Tesla (Autopilot)
S.D. Fla. · Effective 2025-08-01 · Benavides v. Tesla, Inc., No. 1:21-cv-21940 (S.D. Fla. Aug. 1, 2025)
A Florida federal jury found Tesla 33% liable in August 2025 for the 2019 death of Naibel Benavides Leon, in a crash involving Autopilot. The jury awarded $243M ($129M compensatory + $200M punitive); in February 2026 the court denied Tesla's post-trial motions and upheld the verdict in full — the first Autopilot wrongful-death verdict against Tesla.
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In effect Stronger protection
COPPA + 2025 Rule (childrens data)
United States · Effective 2025-06-23 · 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501–6506; 16 C.F.R. Part 312
COPPA requires online services aimed at children under 13 to get verifiable parental consent before collecting kids' personal data. The 2025 rule update — fully in effect since April 22, 2026 — adds biometric identifiers (like face templates and voiceprints, which matter for AI tools), requires separate parental consent before sharing children's data for targeted advertising, and tightens data retention limits.
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In effect Stronger protection
TAKE IT DOWN Act
United States · Effective 2025-05-19 · Pub. L. No. 119-12 (S. 146)
Makes it a federal crime to knowingly publish intimate images of someone without consent, including AI-generated deepfakes. Social media and similar platforms must give victims a way to request removal and must take the content (and known copies) down within 48 hours. The platform removal requirement became enforceable May 19, 2026, and the FTC has already begun enforcement.
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Blocked / in litigation Stronger protection
NetChoice v. Yost (Ohio)
S.D. Ohio · Effective 2025-04-16 · NetChoice, LLC v. Yost, No. 2:24-cv-00047 (S.D. Ohio Apr. 16, 2025)
Ohio's Social Media Parental Notification Act — requiring parental consent for minors' social-media use, including algorithmic feeds — was preliminarily enjoined on February 12, 2024, then permanently enjoined on April 16, 2025 when the district court granted summary judgment for NetChoice. The state appealed to the Sixth Circuit, which vacated the district court's injunction in 2026.
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In effect Stronger protection
Thaler v. Perlmutter (Copyright)
D.C. Cir. · Effective 2025-03-18 · Thaler v. Perlmutter, 130 F.4th 1039 (D.C. Cir. 2025)
The companion copyright case: Stephen Thaler sought to register a copyright with 'Creativity Machine' (his AI) as the author. The D.C. Circuit affirmed in March 2025 that the Copyright Act's human-authorship requirement is dispositive as a matter of statutory law. AI cannot be a copyright author under U.S. law.
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In effect Stronger protection
Thomson Reuters v. Ross
D. Del. · Effective 2025-02-11 · Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH v. Ross Intelligence, Inc., No. 1:20-cv-00613 (D. Del. Feb. 11, 2025)
Thomson Reuters sued legal-research startup Ross Intelligence in 2020 for copying Westlaw headnotes to train a competing AI legal-research tool. In February 2025, Judge Stephanos Bibas (sitting by designation) granted summary judgment to Thomson Reuters on direct copyright infringement and rejected Ross's fair-use defense — the first definitive U.S. ruling on AI-training fair use. No jury trial occurred: a 2023 opinion had denied summary judgment and pointed toward trial, but the court invited renewed briefing and reversed course in the 2025 ruling.
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In effect Stronger protection
Louis v. SafeRent
D. Mass. · Effective 2024-11-20 · Louis v. SafeRent Solutions, LLC, No. 1:22-cv-10800 (D. Mass.)
SafeRent agreed in November 2024 to a $2.275M settlement and a five-year ban on using its 'SafeRent Score' for housing-voucher applicants, after a class action alleged its AI tenant-screening tool systematically denied housing to Black and Hispanic Section 8 voucher holders. The first major AI tenant-screening Fair Housing Act settlement.
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In effect Stronger protection
FTC Impersonation Rule (AI)
United States · Effective 2024-04-01 · 16 C.F.R. Part 461; 89 Fed. Reg. 15017
The FTC's Impersonation Rule lets the agency directly sue scammers who pretend to be a government agency or a real business — including those who use AI-cloned voices or generated images to do so. Civil penalties can reach $53,088 per violation. The FTC also issued a supplemental notice in February 2024 proposing to extend the rule to all individual impersonation.
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In effect Stronger protection
TCPA (AI voice calls)
United States · Effective 2024-02-08 · 47 U.S.C. § 227; FCC 24-17
Robocalls using AI-cloned or AI-generated voices are treated like other 'artificial voice' calls: callers need your prior express consent, must identify themselves, and must offer opt-outs for telemarketing. You can personally sue violators for $500 to $1,500 per illegal call.
Frequently asked questions about AI laws in Fairfax, Virginia
Are there AI laws in Fairfax, Virginia?
What federal AI rules apply in Fairfax?
Does Virginia have an AI privacy law?
Are deepfakes illegal in Virginia?
Can my employer use AI to screen me for jobs in Fairfax?
How do I report an AI law violation in Fairfax?
Are facial recognition cameras allowed in Fairfax?
Is Fairfax regulated by Virginia's consumer privacy act?
Have we missed an AI rule in Fairfax?
This page is generated from our open civic dataset. If you know of a Fairfax ordinance, county rule, or local enforcement action we should add, email feedback@ailawsusa.com or submit a correction. Every entry must include a verifiable source.